Stories from the Field
I Am Back!
We are fragile creatures, really. We walk this earth with such absolute certainty, forgetting that it takes only a fraction of a second—a misstep, a sudden, violent surrender to gravity—to shatter the illusion of our invincibility.
In the autumn of 2022, the earth rose up to meet me. I fell, and my back was broken. What followed was a descent into a very particular kind of madness. For months, I was adrift in a sea of sterile clinic waiting rooms, presenting my agony to a succession of doctors who looked at the shadows on my MRI scans and saw... nothing of consequence. It was a profound and isolating silence. But pain, you see, is a demanding companion. It refuses to be ignored. Finally, a pain management doctor looked closer, peering into the very same images others had dismissed. He saw the violent truth: a damaged disk had acted like a cruel hammer, bouncing off my spinal cord and leaving behind a deep, devastating bruise. Bones can fracture, but the spinal cord—that sacred, delicate conduit of human sensation—remembers. The trauma to the cord was a radiating, electric fire. It was, without question, the most agonizing burden I have ever had to endure.
The Brutal Truth
The surgeons were architects of steel and bone, but while they rebuilt the structure, the house was still burning.
To stabilize the ruins, I underwent a spinal fusion and disk replacement. Brutal. That is the only word for it. The surgeons were architects of steel and bone, but while they rebuilt the structure, the house was still burning. I was plunged into the dark years of chronic pain. My nerves remained trapped in a state of hyper-excitability, and the soft tissues were suffocated by dense, non-compliant scar tissue.
Traditional medicine offered only palliative masks—medications that dulled the mind and altered pain perception, but did absolutely nothing to repair the underlying, ruined tissues. I was surviving, but I was certainly not living.
But the human body harbors secrets, a quiet, cellular intelligence just waiting for the right instruction. My renaissance began when I turned away from the masks and discovered the profound science of peptide therapy.
It was not magic; it was biological orchestration. I began a targeted protocol to awaken my body’s dormant healing mechanisms. I introduced BPC-157, a protective compound that has been demonstrated to accelerate the healing of wounds, tendons, and ligaments, while exhibiting profound soothing effects on localized pain. Alongside it, I used TB-500, a mimetic of a naturally occurring hormone that plays a vital role in the repair, protection, regeneration, and remodeling of damaged tissues.
To rebuild the foundation, I utilized Tesamorelin and Ipamorelin, elegant secretagogues that whispered directly to my pituitary gland. Rather than forcing exogenous, synthetic hormones into my system, these peptides stimulated my body to release its own natural, pulsatile waves of human growth hormone. This promoted muscle growth, accelerated my recovery, and restored a youthful vitality that I thought was lost forever in that fall.
Slowly, the electric fire in my spine began to cool. The hardware in my back integrated with living, resilient tissue. The fog of chronic suffering lifted, replaced by the clarity of genuine, cellular repair.
Today, I am back on the track to a healthy, vibrant life. The journey was brutal, yes. But it taught me that even when we are broken, we are never truly beyond repair. We simply must find the right key to unlock the body's magnificent, quiet resilience.
The one thing that has always been a passion...
One element of my life that has always been an effortless passion has been music. This week I had the opportunity to tour PS Audio’s manufacturing facility in Boulder, CO in between meetings. It reminded me a lot of Control Laser’s facilities when I worked there. Many stages of building components, chassis, putting the pieces together and then testing them. The best part is obviously testing the product and listening to the music. There are two sides to the passion of music, not only the putting together a respectable playback system, but also finding the music that demonstrates that system well and moves your spirit. For me, it’s been long haul of putting together the playback system “at the right price” and it’s taken just as long to put together a compelling playlist of music that demonstrates a respectable audio system. Interestingly, back when I was in college, my room mate and I had a PS Audio Model One amp and pre-amp which kind of started this whole passion. We had the greatest time together and still do.
The System:
I’ve been able to put together a system made up of components I’ve collected very patiently over the past 20 years. Components I have heard over time which have made an impression on me. Some of the most notable are a Pre-amp (BC-800) and Amplifier (BA-803 x 2) setup from Bedini Audio. Unfortunately, John Bedini and his brother Gary passed away a couple years ago, just days apart. John was an innovator in electrical design and is well known in scientific circles for working on free energy devices. He also produced some of the most incredible high-end audio equipment that I have been lucky enough to acquire VERY cost effectively.
For speakers, I have been able to acquire a pair of Shahinian Acoustics Diapason speakers, designed by Richard Shahinian who was an engineer for Harman Kardon for many years.. This is a component pair of speakers comprised of Diapason Satellites sitting atop a pair of Double Eagle subwoofers. The amplifier setup combined with these speakers were interestingly the favorite setup for John Bedini as well as Richard Shahinian, so the two manufacturers mutually agreed upon their quality combination and so do I. Sure, I’ve heard a lot of fantastic setups, but this is one of those things I’ve been working towards for so many years. Part of my underlying strategy is being able to find these collector quality items at unreasonably low prices. That takes patience, persistence and knowing what you are looking for.
The Music:
I’ve always had a “different” taste in music growing up and always appreciated jazz and music from when I was very young. Some of that music being recreated in more modern tones is simply magical. Some of my all time favorites are “Say a Little Prayer” and “Walk on By” by Dionne Warwick as well as many Otis Redding and others . But what I find most striking recently is finding those magical recordings of fine music that was recorded with attention to detail leading to goosebumps when played back on a quality system. I’ve been able to put together a playlist that I use when people want to understand “what is that stereo you have in your shop”?
If you are interested in hearing some of what I’m talking about, take a listen to the playlist found here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/playlist/audiodemo/pl.u-Dd94etrq8R9
This is obviously an Apple iTunes playlist, which doesn’t necessarily have all the quality of lossless format recordings, but it is convenient to share from iTunes. Recently, I’ve been able to compare Apple Music to other music services and found Tidal “Hi-Fi” version to be really incredible. There isn’t an album or music track I have not been able to find there. Even some really old stuff. The Hi-Fi version of Tidal is streamed in lossless up to 24-bit FLAC format which is as good as you can get. Played on a high resolving system will give you that “goosebumps” effect. As close to hearing it live as you can get!
The Reason:
My plan is to work on my photography, woodworking and audiophilic tendancies in the workshop during my retirement years, doing what I love to do. Because when you do what you love doing, you don’t work a day in your life!
When you do what you love, it doesn't feel like work.
Over the years of my career I've had some great opportunities to work in motivating and inspiring roles. Early in my career I received a degree in Photography and then went back to school for Computer Science and Business administration. It's been interesting to see the worlds of Photography and Computer Science converge as photography moved away from film and into the digital world. Now, you can carry an entire photographic workflow on the phone in your pocket, which makes everyone a photographer as they move about in their personal lives. The difference between a true photographer and a citizen photographer is the focus on the outcome of the action of taking photographs. The most impressive and compelling images are those that strike an emotional chord within the viewer. An image that was designed to do so. For me, it also has to be an image I could look at for hours and develop additional thoughts and emotions around the image. Printing and framing an image allows the audience to not only decorate their home or office, but also be inspired by the image in whatever moves them about the image. Art can bring about spiritual, emotional and social change. The notion that artwork is for mere decoration in the home or workplace underestimates the true impact to provide inspiration, motivation, creativity and emotional ties to experiences that have come and gone. The time has come where I want to focus on providing the world inspiration and motivation that have emotional ties. This is why we are creating Good Medicine Galleries. In future months we will be setting up shop to bring images to the world that have meaning. Come back and visit regularly and like our Facebook page to see what's going on in the world around us. I look forward to your interaction and hope to being inspirational artwork you would like to share with your friends and family. When I work on photography, it's a passion that does not feel like work.
